SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio couple is grateful to be alive, although they only have the clothes on their back after an early Thursday morning fire ripped through their apartment building.
Benjamin Garcia and Nick Perez were the last to be woken up and run out of the burning building at the Icon Apartments on the 1300 block of Patricia Drive on the North Side.
“When I look out the peephole, it’s smoke, and I can smell the smoke coming through the door,” Garcia said. “I grabbed my clothes off the hanger, just a shirt and pants, and I grabbed the dog up in a blanket, and we were out the door.”
The flames were so intense they could feel the heat from across the parking lot.
The fire displaced 15 families, injured two women, and killed a couple of pets, according to San Antonio Fire.
The residents are grateful to the Red Cross and the apartment staff for the support they’ve received so far, but they say they have a long way to rebuild their lives.
The couple says this has taught them a valuable lesson to prepare an emergency evacuation plan and not to let their renter’s insurance plan lapse.